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STATEMENT OF A. E. PHILLIPS, 

J. ATE ACTING 

TTZsTITIEID STATES COZDsTSTJL 

. AT THE PORT OF 

ST. JAGO DE CUBA, 

SHOWING 

The circumstances and events which forced him to abandon his 
post and seek protection at Jamaica, West Indies, from the 
violence of a Spanish mob. 



On the 8th of March, 1869, the Cuban patriots occupying 
the heights surrounding St. Jago de Cuba caused profound 
alarm to the inhabitants of that city by reports of their inten- 
tion of attacking and taking possession of it. The Spanish 
authorities comprehending the impending danger, trained 
the guns of their ships-of-war upon the place with the pur- 
pose of bombarding and destroying it should it be taken pos- 
session of by the Cubans. Thereupon, Mr. E. F. Wallace, 
then United States Consul, decided to return at once to the 
United States for causes to me unknown, leaving the consulate 
in charge of his clerk, who, being a Cuban and a young man, 
I did not feel in such a critical exigency, could afford sufficient 
protection to the lives and interests of the Americans residing 
there ; therefore, in accordance with the earnest request of my 
countrymen present, I decided to offer to take charge of the 
duties of the consulate, which offer was promptly accepted by 
Mr. Wallace much to the expressed satisfaction of the Spanish 
Governor of St. Jago de Cuba. 

Shortly after I had entered upon my duties, an American, by 
the name of Charles Speak man, was brought a prisoner to the 
city by the Spanish soldiers, a fact of which I was first specially 
advised, in writing, by the English vice consul, who happened 
to see the man carried by his office. Allowed to visit him, I 



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learned, under oath of said Speakman, that he was a native of 
America, (of the State of Indiana ;) that he had left New York 
an articled sailor on the schooner Grapeshot, bound for Fal- 
mouth, in the Island of Jamaica — a voyage which he had 
undertaken in good faith, with no idea that the vessel had any 
other destination whatever ; but that when the said vessel was 
at anchor in the harbor of New York, ostensibly awaiting a 
tug to take her to sea, some fifty armed Cubans having 
come aboard at midnight with so considerable a supply of mu- 
nitions of war, he became suspicious of the actual nature of the 
voyage, and expressed his desire to the captain to quit and 
return to New York, which he was only prevented from doing 
by the assurance of the captain that, although he had taken the 
Cubans aboard, under no circumstances would he risk his vessel 
in any attempt to run the Spanish blockade, but would pursue 
his voyage to Falmouth, there leave the Cubans, and then go 
for a cargo of cocoanuts. 

However, when the vessel was off Cape Maysi, the eastern 
extremity of the Island of Cuba, the Cuban passengers, taking 
violent possession of the Grape-shot, changed her course, and 
ran her for the port of Baitequiri, in the Island of Cuba, and 
there discharged her cargo. While in the port, he had some 
difficulty with the captain of the vessel who, in the end, left 
him ashore, entirely unarmed, under the threat that he would 
shoot him if he attempted the least resistance to this act ; that 
soon thereafter an engagement took place between the Cubans 
landed from the Grapeshot and a force of Spanish soldiers, in 
which he took no part whatsoever, having remained unarmed ; 
and finally, seeking some place of shelter, he met two unarmed 
men, to whom he gave himself up with the request that he 
might be carried to the nearest American consul. He was then 
bound and brought to St. Jago de Cuba, where he was im- 
mediately, without any recognized form of judicial investiga- 
tion, sentenced to be shot to death on the following day. 
Whereupon, he had protested and appealed, in verification of 
his statement, to the vessel's register and master's log-book, as 
well as other evidence, which might be readily had in Jamaica, 
of his entire innocence cf any complicity with the expedition. 

A translation of the sworn declaration of Speakman was 
then made and read by me to the Spanish official who had sen- 
tenced the man to death. I sent another copy in Spanish to 
the Governor, with the urgent request that a respite should be 
granted for a few days to procure proper evidence from Jamaica. 
Having received no reply meanwhile, I visited Speakman early 



tin- next morning. He was surrounded with soldiers assembled 
and formed for his execution; perfectly calm, he assured me as 
a dying man that he was wholly innocent, as might be fully 
shown if only permitted a few days to collect the evidence. 
Whilst at the prison, the English Vice Consul with creditable 
motives also came there and offered to accompanying me to see 
the Governor. Going to the residence of that functionary, we 
found him still abed; but urging an interview one was granted, 
and in the name of mercy and of the United States and Eng- 
land, we besought a respite for Speakman, assuring him that a 
North German ship-of-war, then in the harbor would carry the 
necessary letters to Jamaica. 

The Governor, Simon de la Torre, seemed personally dis- 
posed to grant our prayer, yet finally declared that he was not 
only acting under superior instructions, but although, chief mag- 
istrate of the city was absolutely impotent; averring that his 
people would not obey him ; that distentions prevailed in the 
army, that General Buceta, the military commander, had been 
forced to take refuge on board a Spanish ship-of-war, the Cata- 
lans a few nights before having attempted to assassinate him 
under the pretence of a serenade, with much else of that char- 
acter, showing the existence of complete anarchy in the place, 
and the complete supremacy of mob rule over the Spanish mili- 
tary and civil authority at the time in the city of St. Jago de 
Cuba, I therefore had to go away, and Charles Speakman, an 
American citizen, was executed within the shadow almost of 
my consular flag;, without having; committed the least offence 
against the laws of Spain, or done any act whatsoever against 
the integrity of the Spanish monarchy.* 

A few days later, namely — on the 21st of June, 1869, another 
American, one Albert Wyeth, a citizen of Chambersburg, Penn- 
sylvania, not yet a man, was executed at the same place with the 
same disregard of the rights of men to judicial trial and in the 
same summary fashion that characterized the death of Speak- 
man. 

Being in ill-health, Wyeth took passage on the "Grape- 
shot" for Falmouth, Jamaica, by invitation of one Jimenez, 
who having chartered her for the voyage, offered him a free 
passage, which was the inducement for his taking passage on 



* See pages 98 and 99, Ex. Doe. 160, House of Representatives, 41st 
Congress, 2d session, for the sworn declaration of Speakman, also 
the letter to his wife ; likewise page 101 for the declaration of Al- 
iici'i Wyeth in the same connection. 



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4 

that particular vcs.-el. That said vessel had any other destina- 
tion than Falmouth, was unknown to Wyeth until after it had 
touched at, and set sail from, Turk's Island, when he protested 
against going to Cuba ; but he was, nevertheless, made to go 
ashore with certain Cubans, in the eastern and southern part of 
that island, under the threat of death ; and, moreover, was 
forced to take up arms. However, at the first encounter with 
the Spaniards, separating from the expedition, he threw away 
his arms without having used them, and presented himself as 
soon as possible to certain Spanish officials, who sent him to 
St. Jago de Cuba, where, as I have said, on the 21st of June, 
he was shot with five other persons without trial. Before his 
•death, Wyeth deposed to the facts I have stated under circum- 
stances which satisfied me he had spoken, as he said, " the 
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." 

I made every effort to save the poor youth. It was in vain, 
however, that I called the attention of the Spanish governor to 
the fact that he was but twenty years of age ; it counted nothing 
in his favor that he had been inveigled and made to take part 
in the expedition against his consent ; his American blood was 
a necessary offering to the brutal mob that reigned in St. Jago 
de Cuba as in Havana ; and Wyeth, as well as Speakman, was 
shot ; his mutilated remains were then carried off in a scaven- 
ger's cart and cast into a ditch like so much carrion ! I could 
not hinder it ! 

Cases, meanwhile, had become frequent of American plan- 
ters being compelled to abandon their estates in the interior, 
and flee to the city, in consequence of the acts of the Spanish 
(mobilized) troops, whose barefaced object now was plunder. 
Mr. John B. Latte, a native of New Orleans, for merely 
demanding remuneration for losses, was thrown into and kept 
in prison for eight months, notwithstanding my efforts to pro- 
cure either his trial or release. I am satisfied, moreover, he 
would have been made away with by foul means had not the 
United States flag-ship " Severn" finally visited the place ; and 
when, upon my representation to the admiral of his situation, 
Mr. Latte's release was demanded and secured. These insolent 
and unnoticed acts of outrage upon American citizens now led 
them to prefer to lose their property rather than to make 
demand for remuneration, or to ask for justice, at the risk of 
being thrown into prison, if not assassinated by the mobilized 
troops. 

Another flagrant case was that of the American sloop 
(t Champion," Captain Wm. W, Cox, which put into the port of 



St. Jago de Cuba in distress — leaking badly. Instead of 
receiving aid from the local authorities, as she was entitled to 
under our treaty with Spain, the Champion was seized, taken 
under the guns of a Spanish man-of-war, and there left to sink. 
The only excuse offered to me by the Spanish authorities was 
that she cleared from Aux Cayes for Jamaica with a passenger 
on her list who was not found aboard when the vessel was 
visited by the Spanish boarding officer. The captain and his crew 
then testified before me under oath that the passenger in question 
had never come on board, which I have subsequently ascer- 
tained from the United States Consul at Aux Cayes was the 
fact. Nevertheless, the Spaniards grew clamorous for the blood 
of the captain and crew of the Champion, declaring that the 
missing passenger could be no other than some Cuban rebel, 
who had been covertly landed somewhere on the island. See- 
ing, from the temper of these savages, that my countrymen were 
not safe in the city, I sent them out to my estate in the vicinity, 
where they did not long remain, however, without disturbance; 
so that they were forced to seek refuge at the consulate, pur- 
sued thither by armed men apparently determined to murder 
them in their insatiate rage against Americans. Subsequently, 
they were taken to Jamaica on the flag-ship "Severn" after 
my return in that ship to St. Jago de Cuba ; but up to that 
time, during my absence, had been held as prisoners by the 
Spanish authorities. 

News of the death of the Spanish Editor, Castenon, at Key 
West, having meanwhile reached the place, all the ferocity of 
the Spanish character was at once excited ; and some act of 
brutal vengeance immediately impended. It was known that 
some of the most wealthy and influential of the Cubans of the 
city ardently and anxiously desired to shake off the bondage of 
Spanish rule. Certain of these suspected gentlemen were selec- 
lected for victims ; among others a native-born American, 
Charles Demery, of New York, where he was baptized at St. 
Mary's Church, another was John F. Portuondo, who, a natu- 
ralized American citizen, had long resided in Philadelphia, 
where his brother and family now live. These unfortunate 
gentlemen were seized, bound, and hurried off some twelve 
miles in the interior, to a plantation called San Juan de Wilson, 
a spot already made notorious by the butcheries committed 
there by a Spanish Major, Boet, grown infamous for his cru- 
elty and acts of rapine, and for his bestial outrages upon the 
persons of women and even very young girls in the presence of 
their husbands or parents. Brought before this savage these 



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6 

persons were speedily shot without even the farce of a trial, as 
was certified to me by another one of those arrested, who had 
witnessed their execution, but was fortunate enough to escape 
himself. The bodies of these victims, stark naked, were left to 
fester in the sun for some time, but were finally suffered to 
be buried together in a trench. 

Upon learning of the arrest of these gentlemen I informed 
the Governor that when Admiral Hoff had been at St. Jago 
de Cuba to inquire into the particulars of the death of Speak man 
and Wyeth, it had been arranged and agreed by his predecessor 
in office, and the Admiral thought that in all future cases Ameri- 
can prisoners should have a regular judicial trial, either in my 
presence or in the presence of the consul who might succeed me. 
The reply was, that consuls had neither diplomatic powers nor 
the right to reclaim or protect citizens of their country, but that, 
in virtue of the friendly relations which existed between the 
two nations, a copy of ray communication would be sent to the 
attorney general (Fiscal) having charge of the case of Portuondo, 
who should have a fair trial. This, however, was not carried 
out in good faith, and no report was made to me of the result. 
These atrocities caused a broad spread terror among the Cubans, 
and many families left the city as soon as possible, abandoning 
their property, unprotected, to the spoliation of the Government. 

In consequence of the manner in which I had attempted, 
though vainly, to defend the lives and property of American 
citizens within my jurisdiction, I had now become an object of 
special dislike to the Spanish Government, and particularly to 
the Spanish volunteers who have established themselves as the 
supreme power of the island of Cuba. Some of these last de- 
clared that I was in close collusion with the patriots, and invented 
many unfounded stories about my actions, which even Count 
Valmaseda repeated in a communication to the Captain General, 
as grounds for my removal, after my letters to the State Depart- 
ment concerning Cuban affairs had been published. Undaunted, 
however, by all this, I remained at my post and attempted to 
discharge my duties, but, unhappily, meanwhile certain of my 
official reports to the State Department appeared in the New 
York Herald, and were soon translated and published in the 
local papers of the island. Their contents afforded a good op- 
portunity to the Spanish volunteers to carry out their long 
fostered desire against me. A fierce spirit of animosity was 
excited by the sketch I had made of the political state of affairs 
within my consular district — the true and full account I had 



given of the atrocities which were being daily committed around 
me. 

At the Spanish club — "El Circulo Tkpafibl" — it was now 
discussed how to revenge themselves for the insult I had thus 
offered to their noble chief, Valmaseda, and his officers, espe- 
cially of the volunteers. Some proposed to drag me through 
the streets with music ; others to attack and slay me at the 
consulate ; but, finally, all assented to my early assassination. 
The events which I have related had brought the American flag 
into contempt ;, for that people had become accustomed to see it 
unable to shield our citizens either from outrage or death, and 
the volunteers had seen how that Admiral Hoff, with his flag- 
ship, the Gettysburg, and a Monitor, had only entered the 
harbor to inquire into the cases of Speakman and Wyeth. 
Laughing at such mere fruitless displays, these fellows doubted 
not that they might drive me away or assassinate me with im- 
punity, or no other consequence, at most, than another visit of 
naval inquiry, which their Spanish capacity for falsehood and 
the facile credulity of some naval commander would readily 
enable them to explain satisfactorily ; therefore, they did not 
hesitate to take the law in their own hands. They assembled 
in groups at the various stores and low grogeries of the city ; 
but an old faithful servant gave me timely notice of my danger. 
Realizing my critical situation, I hoisted the consular flag, par- 
tially closed the doors of the consulate, sent to the English con- 
sul for aid, and armed the captain and crew of the " Cham- 
pion." Some friends coming in, confirmed the information that 
had already been given of the hostile purposes of the volun- 
teers towards me, which was soon further confirmed by the Eng- 
lish consul, who, assuring me that no time was to be lost, pro- 
posed togo himself to the governor to ascertain if protection could 
be afforded me. Accordingly, accompanied at his suggestion by 
Mr. Parsons, who had arrived only a tew days previously, to enter 
upon the duties of American consul, but had not as yet chosen 
to assume his functions in consequence of ill-health and the 
complications which he met, the English consul had an imme- 
diate interview with the governor, who, after saying he would 
do all he could for my protection, confessed he anticipated 
trouble. Saving that he did not drive me away, he advised me 
not to lose the opportunity to leave the island by the French 
trans-Atlantic steamer " Darien," which would soon sail for 
Jamaica. This was a clear admission that he could not guaran- 
tee my safety; informed of which, I deemed it, although humil- 
iating, an act of necessary precaution to ask the English consul 



8 

the shelter of his consulate. That gentleman, ever ready to aid 
me in all possible manner, replied that if my flag would not 
protect me, he was sure his own would not; in fact, that no one 
was safe — not any foreign consul. By his advice and that of 
my other friends, I therefore resolved to leave as soon as possible. 
It was next announced to me by. friends that the Spanish 
population had. declared their determination to prevent my 
departure, I at once called the attention of the Government to 
this report, with the request in the name of my Government, 
for a proper escort. Without other reply he sent his secre- 
tary as that escort. Meanwhile crowds wild with excitement 
were to be seen at the stores in the city, and as the steamer was 
about to leave, I felt it was more prudent to send my wife 
aboard, at once, clandestinely. Greatly agitated by the evident 
danger which menaced us, she secured and carried with her 
only a few articles of clothing. Finally, the moment being at 
hand for my own departure, I was called upon by two members 
of the Spanish Club, which I must mention is composed of 
Spaniards of the lower orders of society, whose organization is 
Jacobinical, and aims to control the superior authority whenever 
found in conflict with the interests or wishes of the club. The 
delegation from this club now informed me that they had seen 
the translation of my letters to my Government, and that their 
contents had filled the club with indignation. That the more 
hot-blooded members were already in session, and determined 
to deal with me in the harshest manner: but had agreed to 
delay action until they, the committee could see me, and propose 
that I should deny in writing that I had written the despatches 
in question. Replying that I could make no such denial, for I 
had assuredly written to my Government, as was my duty, of 
the political state of affairs within my consular district. I said, 
however, I had no intention of insulting Valmaseda, nor the 
officers of the Spanish volunteers. They responded that if I 
did not make some such denial, in the present excited temper of 
the greater part of the club, they could not be answerable for 
the consequences, and were sure outrages would befall me. Mr. 
Juan Reyes, the secretary of the club, then wrote a letter which 
he assured me I must copy and sign as the only way to avoid 
assassination. This I finally did in the face of the manifest 
extremity to which I was reduced by the publication of my 
official letters. That letter, however, I must remark, was 
somewhat different from the text from the one published after 
my departure by the club. Having yielded to force in this 
matter, escorted by the English consul and the secretary of the 



Governor, at the suggestion of the latter making my way by a 
circuitous route to the landing, I embarked on the steamer 
Darien for Jamaica, carrying despatches from the English con- 
sul to the English commodore at Port Royal in regard to what 
had happened to me in Cuba. 

As soon as the English commodore received the dispatches 
which I transmitted to him from Kingston, he requested me, by 
telegraph, to visit him, and I went without delay. That offi- 
cer promptly tendered me the opportunity to return to my post, 
if I desired it, upon an English armed vessel, the " Mullet," or 
to send me to the American admiral, as I might prefer. He 
also announced his purpose to dispatch a gunboat to St. Jago 
de Cuba for the protection of the English and American consu- 
lates, which he was satisfied, from the dispatches of his consul, 
were in danger. Thanking the commodore, in the name of my 
Government, for his course, I declined either to return to Cuba 
or to trouble him to send me to Admiral Poor, as I understood 
the latter was then at Port au Prince, for which place an En- 
glish steamer would sail in a day or two. 

Upon arriving, however, at Hayti, I learned the admiral was 
at Santo Domingo city, a port to which there was no regular 
conveyance. Requesting Mr. Bassett, our minister, to accom- 
pany me, we called upon the French charge d' affaires, Mr. 
Doizen, who, upon learning the exigency, without hesitation, 
offered me a passage upon the French gunboat " La Touche 
Treville," and thus I found Admiral Poor with the flagship 
"Severn," in which, after some few days detention at Santo 
Domingo city, I returned to St. Jago de Cuba. 

Upon meeting the admiral I made no demand to be restored 
to my consular duties, for Mr. Parsons, regularly appointed as 
consul, had remained when I was forced to leave, but I did re- 
quest to be restored to the consulate, my own house, for the 
purpose of making up my accounts with the United States 
Government, as no one else assuredly could do that for me. Im- 
mediately after my p.rrival, communicating with my friends 
ashore to ascertain the present sentiment of the volunteers to- 
wards me, I was informed, in the presence of the admiral, that 
my life would be taken if I landed, and I was urged not to quit 
the ship. I was also informed that my household furniture and 
personal effects were being fast carried off, while I could learn 
nothing at all concerning my property in the vicinity. Under 
these circumstances, I urged upon the admiral the necessity of 
my presence ashore, and requested a proper escort — Captain 
Lowery, the commander of the " Severn,"' liaving offered to 

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accompany me with an escort if I were permitted to land. The 
admiral declined positively to furnish the escort, and informed 
me, moreover, that he had no instructions to afford me any pro- 
tection whatsoever, being simply ordered by the Navy Depart- 
ment to inquire into the cause of my departure. I then asked 
to be allowed to accompany him to the consulate, at the same 
time offering him the hospitality of my comfortable house, a 
proposition which, strangely enough, seemed to offend him, as 
he was unable to regard it otherwise than an attempt to make 
of him an escort to myself. Being thus denied that protection 
to which I believed, and do still believe, I was justly entitled 
from Admiral Poor, I next requested him to procure permission 
from the Spanish Governor for me to land with some guarantee 
for my safety while ashore. This being done, the Governor 
replied I might land, but with no special guarantee in that 
event, or other protection than that extended to the residents of 
the place. Knowing that the Governor was absolutely impotent 
in any collision with the volunteers, and having good reason, 
from the langnage and actions of the admiral, to believe that he 
would afford me no succor in the event of any violence or com- 
motion caused by my landing, I was not willing to venture my 
life to the mercy of the mob. It, therefore, became necessary 
for me to request that the books of the consulate and my former 
secretary should be brought to the ship to enable me to make 
up and close my official accounts. The secretary came, but de- 
clined to render any assistance, saying it would be at the risk of 
his life if he became identified with me in any way, and that 
detectives or spies were placed to watch all persons visiting the 
ship. 

In one of the admiral's despatches to the governor, it was 
asked why the protection I had sought had not been given, and 
why I was forced to abandon my post, leaving my considerable 
property unprotected ? In reply, the governor denying all 
knowledge of any special cause, stated that I had requested my 
passport, which were granted me without hesitation, and that, 
in virtue of his high appreciation of me, he had sent his secre- 
tary to represent him and to accompany me on board the ship 
by which I departed. As for my property, he had too much of 
his own business to attend to, to occupy himself with my per- 
sonal affairs; but that he did know I had left in debt to some 
of the volunteers, which debts he sought to insinuate were the 
real cause of my departure. That the governor should affect 
ignorance of the extent of my property will be hard to recon- 
cile with the fact that only a few days before ] was forced from 



11 

my post, being present at his palace for the purpose, or hope, of 
arranging with him for the protection of resident American 
citizens and their menaced interests, the governor himself had 
made direct inquiries about my estate, and whether the insur- 
gents had destroyed any part of it. Moreover, he demanded 
ray quota (eight dollars and a half) for the transportation of 
troops and convoys, which all planters were required to supply, 
saying that I was recorded in the archives of the Government 
;i> the owner of an estate. Furthermore, as the governor, 
his secretary, and other high officials of the Spanish army, 
visited my house frequently, he knew well that it contained 
elegant and valuable furniture ; that my stables were full of 
horses and mules, with three carriages, one of which, entirely 
new, was worth more than one thousand dollars. He must 
also have known from my tax or contribution — larger than that 
of any other of similar character in the place — that I had a 
large professional practice and income. 

I was next informed by the admiral that the Governor would 
visit the ship, and in my anxiety to adjust my unsettled affairs, 
I proposed to seek an interview with him, to which the admiral 
objected, but finally consented that I might submit a request in 
writing, which if granted, I could meet the Governor in his 
cabin. The interview took place, and I was received with equal 
politeness and duplicity. The Governor assured me that any 
disposition which I might make for the settlement of my private 
affairs should have his sanction and support. I then informed 
him I had addressed letters not only to many lawyers of the 
city, but also to my personal friends, with the object of inducing 
some competent person to take charge of my property, and going 
into a general liquidation of my affairs, but as yet had found no 
one willing to undertake the charge, not even Mr. Parsons, my 
successor, who had answered that he did not dare to have any- 
thing to do with my matters lest he should eventually fall into 
a worse condition than my own. I proposed, however, as alto- 
gether acceptable to me, to leave my affairs in the hands of a 
Mr. Cortez, one recognized in all respects as a loyal Spaniard, 
who was willing to undertake the trust if the Governor would 
guarantee his safety. This was assented to, but a power of at- 
torney became necessary from me to legalize the proceeding, and 
it was found no one was willing to come off to the ship to draw 
up the paper and take my signature, properly authenticated, as 
it had to be. Meanwhile the admiral had determined to leave 
for Jamaica at 10 o'clock A. M. on the following day, having 
eoncluded, as he asserted, the official inquiries which had brought 



12 

him to the place. Unwilling to depart again with my private 
affairs unsettled, I induced the admiral to apply to the Gover- 
nor to oblige some lawyer to come off to the ship to execute the 
necessary power of attorney, which was accordingly done. Thus 
it will be seen nothing can be more false or absurd than the 
allegation that I left the country for the purpose of avoiding 
payment of the petty debts I was forced to leave unsettled. 

If, to-day, I am forced to be absent from my comfortable 
home, forced to abandon a handsome property to spoliation, 
which I had acquired by many years of diligent attention to 
my profession, it was simply because I sought faithfully to dis- 
charge official duties entrusted to me at a critical juncture, when 
the lives and property of my countrymen were menaced by a 
brutal, ignorant foreign mob, filled with contemptuous insolence 
and bitter hatred toward the flag of the United States. Under 
the shadow of that flag I was unable to look with indifference 
upon the murder of Americans without form of trial and mani- 
festly without cause ; neither could I see the property of my 
countrymen despoiled or wasted without resistance on my part. 
Moreover, I could not see the whole native population of Cuba 
a prey for years to spoliation and outrage by their Spanish task- 
masters without sympathy in their brave struggle for liberty 
and independence, or without truthfully acquainting my Gov- 
ernment how all the laws of humanity were being constantly 
violated by Spanish officials and soldiery in their savage method 
of warfare — a method so fearful that any accurate description 
would be deemed fraught with exaggeration. In my letters to 
the State Department, surely I have in no manner transcended 
what was my strict duty to that department as an officer under 
it. I did no more than to give an unvarnished relation of the 
cruel anarchy amidst which I was called upon to discharge the 
duties of an American consul — relations abundantly confirmed 
by the letters of Messrs. Plumb, Hall and others, in regard to 
affairs in other parts of the Island of Cuba ; relations, indeed, 
which, upon investigation by Admiral Hoff, were fully con- 
firmed, as may be seen by the letter of Mr. Fish to Mr. Sickels, 
dated Washington, August 10, 1869.* Nevertheless, when 
these official papers were published by my own Government 

* These men" (Speakman and Wyeth) " were cruelly murdered, 
owing entirely to the weakness of the Spanish officials at this city 
(St. Jago de Cuba) in yielding to the demand of the Catalan volun- 
teers, and in misconstruing, or acting upon the cruel decree of the 
24th of March, 1859." (Page 40, Ex. Doc. No. 7, Senate, 41st Con- 
gress, 2d session.) 



13 

and thus placed within the knowledge of those to whose crimes 
and offences against justice and humanity, to those to whose 
villanies they refer, I am suffered to be driven from my post of 
duty for having performed my duty ; I am treated with per- 
sonal indignity, barely escape with my life, and am obliged to 
give up to spoliation a large property. Thus far, this has been 
suffered by my Government with the least possible attempt to 
see justice done me ; but I cannot doubt, in time, proper courses 
will be taken to secure me at least indemnity for my losses — ■ 
indemnity, too, to the families of those poor victims of Spanish 
ferocity and hatred of Americans — Speakman and Wyeth, 
Demery and Portuondo. Their lives cannot be restored ; but 
I feel confident the day is at hand when Spaniards will be 
made to understand they cannot, without summary responsi- 
bility, outrage humanity, insult the flag of the United States in 
every petty port in the Island of Cuba, and murder Americans 
who happen to fall in their power. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

The " Arlington," 

Washington, D. C, June 7, 1870. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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